


All of You-Pt One: The Pure

by C3Conner



Series: Hell Raising, Love Finding [4]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Comfort, Dating, Didn't Know They Were Dating, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Gen, Love, M/M, Mischief, Self-Discovery, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 15:10:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21283736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C3Conner/pseuds/C3Conner
Summary: Cloud enjoys the simple things then Reno makes make into big things.
Relationships: Reno/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Rude
Series: Hell Raising, Love Finding [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1447888
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	All of You-Pt One: The Pure

**Author's Note:**

> This song is inspired, PARTIALLY, by "All of You" by Maya Luna from their fantastic album Holy Darkness: A Tantric Opus. Part two will pull even heavier from the song and album.
> 
> http://mayaluna.bandcamp.com/album/holy-darkness-a-tantric-opus
> 
> Best money I have spent in a long time!
> 
> Thank you to bizawasensei for reading over my work and giving feedback even though you had no clue what the hell I was saying.

The cloying aroma of coffee is refreshing at any point of the day to one Cloud Strife, but especially in the morning. The reminder no matter how bitter that cup is gonna be, you woke up and can still operate normally enough to be able to enjoy it. It was vague dancing memory that Cloud grasped onto (from what could easily be an illusion from the time he spent in Mako) that he had been told this simple fact once upon a time. It was brief comment made by a fellow cadet, he believed, or at least that’s what Cloud’s instincts told him. Any sort of positivity, Cloud would take no matter how big or small these days. The blond swordsman needed to build up positive moments against the negative ones to regroup his senses, that’s what the town quack had mumbled at him anyway over a full cup in the dewy morning outside of the newly furnished Seventh Heaven. The appointments would stay roughly in the mornings preferably during the time that Tifa and Rude would be serving their fine breakfasts and Sundays were preferred so that all could be accounted for and processed properly. Plans and patterns no matter what they were crafted both a sense of purpose and pride when completed. He had accepted that his schedule had to be cleared out a bit and chosen to have set days off (if it could be helped) so that he could recoup from anything he managed to land himself into. Which was quite a lot.

Discovering pleasure in small things and making plans to look forward, no matter how trivial they looked on the outside, had added a faint spring in Cloud’s step in his opinion. It relieved some of the achiness that clung to his heart to make little things like those moments and meetings shine in the dim. Minerva knows that he had been getting better, but some days… well, they just hurt. They were days were he would nurse himself like he had come down with a head cold: light meals consisted of healthier comfort food, a relaxing shower to loosen any tighten muscles, and restricted activities to allow himself to breath clearly. Self-care and all that.

Today was, however, an especially excellent day despite the fact that it was more than likely going to be some craziness in it. After all, he was having his nearly weekly guest over and anything could happen there.

The lithe man glanced in Fenrir’s side mirror noting that his Mako eyes shone brighter than usual today and the rings had lighten to an acceptable level for a breathing man. Hair currently standing at all angles yet it was presentable enough and his face was clear of any grease or paint. His usual Friday plans were about to begin and he had made sure be a little more done up than he usually would in his own shop. Today was simple and important: Cloud got up and enjoyed his cup of coffee while polishing up Fenrir after he had had a run-in with a particularly wild pack of guards dogs during a winding trip through Costa de Sol to deliver basic repair supplies that somehow ended seeing him coated in blood, sweat and dirt. The motorcycle had been fixed up mostly before now so that way when his guest finally showed up they could head out to wherever the urge struck them.

A simple coat of wax to go on over where Cloud had grinded down scratches and dents from being charged suddenly during the last delivery. The gleaming black had already been retouched earlier in each spot necessary and left to dry overnight. The half-used container of wax sat on the swiveling table next to him holding his detailing equipment and the man took out even portions each time to buff the parts bit by bit. Cloud had wanted the more precise work already done so when his usual visitor arrived they could enjoy each other’s company and maybe go out for a little trip.

A soft smile stretched across his fair features when he noted the lightest footfalls coming down the gravel pathway crunching only every other step. Each step fell in just the right place to make enough noise to not startle him too badly in his happy place while also letting the wily Reno feel comfortable. It always amused the blonde how the other seemed to be able to know what kind of mood he was waltzing into, it just depended on the how and why if the ex-Turk would care about disrupting it or not. Right now, it seemed that he actually cared about disrupting the peace here in the way that he was walking carefully enough to let Cloud hear him coming without straining and humming poorly to show off a good mood.

“Yo! Honey, I’m home,” the red head cajoled from the doorway half laying against the wood making sure to bat his lashes playfully once he spotted Cloud’s minutiae acknowledgment. A brown bag splotched with grease and stinking of cheese swung in the thinner man’s grasp clearly an invitation and request for permission. Stop to eat and please eat with me all in one go. It had become part of their exchanges over the last few months. Whenever the other was back in town from business (the covert or not didn’t matter at this point), they just would usually eat a meal or two together on Fridays. More often than not they would meet up at Cloud’s garage typically at lunch and update the other on their lives. It would end with a brief embrace and pat on the back, nothing truly odd with two men accustomed to almost dying, and a promise to meet up again soon.

The last two months, however, the meetings had taken a new air. It was closer, more… personal. No longer was it purely “hey, how are yous” and “you wouldn’t believes” passed back and forth over some greasy burgers and a round of cold beers snagged from the bar not even twenty feet away. No, the time held more low mutters of “I’m glad you’re back.” In their little meetings, he had begun to see that they would go out when his mood allowed and enjoy what few sights that they could. Sometimes, if the mood hit both Cloud and Reno just right they would pack up and go pay their respects to the others that had gone before them into the Stream. They both had their own dead to tend to, but it was easier to go together. Some hurts couldn’t be nursed alone, Cloud had finally learned to his friends’ chagrins.

It was fleeting moments that Reno would take a drag of his menthol then pass it to Cloud, assuring him that nothing was in it for the better days or alerting that something was in it for the rougher days. The fact that Cloud once revealed how much he enjoyed cheese due to not being able to afford a lot as a kid so most of his meals came with extra cheese now. How Reno had bitched again and again about having to sit on the “nasty ass floor” so a fairly large bowl chair had made its way into the shop so that the ex-Turk was more relaxed. Sometime after, or even maybe before if he was being honest, a pack of the cigarettes decorated by a chesty Shiva had moved in on the counter furthest from the windows to keep them fresher. On late nights that saw his mind more cluttered and messy, Cloud won’t lie that he had a smoke looking not for the high but for the taste and smell attached to something happier to sooth himself.

The tone had changed most definitely after Reno had swayed through his doorway near 11 PM one roughly three months ago, his shirt tie-dyed poorly in coppers, rubies, and brownstones from a stray bullet. It had sent Cloud into a frigid sweat and panic at first glance. It was a fear that wrenched him open and bare to see something so terribly familiar. The swordsman knew how serious a gunshot could be. Boy, did he know. In three rapid bursts, Reno had been gingerly lifted off his unsteady legs and put onto the table that had once held Cloud’s tools. The swordsman had set to work contacting Rude and Tifa to come assist in impromptu bullet removal and sterilizing the gash. It had taken little under two hours, but the side had been patched up and a curative thrust into the pallid hands of the recovering Reno. His shaky smile and chuckle at all the “fuss” had ruffled Cloud’s feathers. Why had that dumbass skipped a doctor’s office and headed to his garage instead? The question sat in his stomach ruining any chance of a late dinner and even a stiff drink didn’t loosen the weights there. This was so close, too close. For a man who was learning to love the little things and heal his own soul Cloud couldn’t figure out why them eating together was so dire that Reno was willing to bleed the fuck out. It was NOT as important as the red head’s life Cloud felt. The very next morning found Reno gingerly strolling into the compact building moving carefully as to not aggravate his side ( thankfully, unscathed this time) and Cloud couldn’t hold his tongue more than an hour before he had spun on his heels and blurted “Why the hell did you do that? You could have died, Reno.”

A wry grin had graced Reno’s face and he had simply uttered “Wouldn’t miss this, Cloudy. Not again.”

It had crept behind him ever since. The simple words that held so much that the blond had no clue where to even begin to chip away at them. Should he start with the importance of meetings that he had looked forward to yes, but had never put more thought nor effort into beyond the efficient wipe-down of an aged work table to eat and a quick pit stop at the burger shack two blocks down? Or should he figure out what the hell the other meant by “again”? What had Reno missed before? Was it a past friendship or was it something more like his face had portrayed? There were several times that Reno had been strange with Cloud and it twisted a bit of the delivery man’s soul to think that once again his own mind’s failings were probably gobbling up something potentially… precious. Something that made every brush of callused fingers, every set of locked eyes and all of the snatched fries lead into a moment that sang in the darker brighter than a Phoenix down.

He hungered for those things, he thirsted for those moments more and more and more. It couldn’t be sated. He had to know, he had to seize these moments and make them into… something. While he didn’t know exactly what he was looking at, he could see something being born out of the pattern and habits. It would be grand that much he knew.

This was day was truly no different though, but the moment was something so fucking elevating. The midmorning sun cast a halo of windswept tresses aflame and hung in just the right spot to illuminate the ex-Turk’s sharp features. Twinkling turquoise eyes crinkled up at Cloud and high cheek bones were highlighted by a borderline feral smile and twin freshly recolored tattoos. The usual black suit that hung off the seemingly frail frame was gone and replaced by a simple white v-neck covered by a thicker weight windbreaker with what suspiciously appeared to be the Honeybee symbol on its right breast pocket and torn denim pants that were tighter than most people would even find comfortable to look at it. It was in the fact that the clear definite of Reno’s calves and thighs stood out enough for someone to tell that this was a person fitter than they appeared. Goddess knows that those legs had kicked the shit out of Cloud enough for him to understand the hidden strength there intimately. A petite set of full lips chapped from constant chatter and biting twisted into a familiar smirk and Cloud realized belatedly that Reno was speaking to him the whole damn time he was waxing poetic. Shit, okay, maybe there was something already here.

“-om’on, man, focus! I know that I’m a fuckin’ doll but breathe,” Reno snickered. Cloud’s scoff and rosy face tattled on his leering and he stubbornly focused back in on his half polished bike. At least, it wouldn’t judge him. How the hell was he supposed to NOT stare?! The older man wore the front of his shirt wide ass open revealing as much skin as he could without auditioning at the Honeybee. A few seconds later the food was perched next to his left arm and a body was in his space attempting to peer over his toned shoulder. Cloud reflexively hunched and Reno began to outright cackle and attempt to shove even further into the limited space. “So whaddja do this time, babe?! You’da put this shit through a compactor and it’d still run, won’t it, so what’s up with all this,” a vague flapping gesture at the bike letting Cloud know that Reno was referring to his least favorite thing: work. Okay, there were times that he honestly could do without these moments if this was what he would have to endure. (Cloud, of course, knew that it was a big fat fucking lie. Reno could do whatever he pleased and Cloud would honestly, probably, eat it up faster than a fatty stew. From what Tifa had told him, the swordsman had always been a fan of the stubborn ones. He wasn’t entirely sure why she kept bringing it up though. Maybe he’d finally ask her this coming Sunday morning before his weekly appointment.)

A sudden wet and warm thing pressed against his cheek shooting Firaga down into his stomach and his heart into his throat. The almost Solider spun on his heels still crunched over unsure of what to do next or what to say. Reno had kissed him! Like full on kissed him. Well, okay, not on the mouth or anything and yet it still stood out. What the fuck?! Wha-what does he do?!

The mirth on Reno’s face had soften and he slouched against the table where the food grew colder despite the way that things seemed to be heating up in the tiny area. The two men continued on watching the other: Cloud still in bewilderment growing even more shocked and Reno still in amusement growing even more… fond? That was at least what Cloud thought the look meant, he had seen Tifa and Rude make those eyes at each other for nearly a year. (It had taken several drinks for Cloud to feel even vaguely ballsy enough to speak to the female brawler about the generally tense aura around the new business partners and he had suffered from a rather nasty bruise for a month for “being a noisy, little know-it-all.”) Finally, Reno sauntered over to the still crumpled over man and clapped his narrow shoulders affectionately before he pleasantly announced “Well, babe, I’m outta ‘ere. See ya for our date tonight. Is ten-ish good for you?” The blond nodded mechanically still attempting to get his chocobos back in a line to even begin to wonder what the hell the other meant by “our date.” In the same breeziness of movement and light Reno slipped out the front of the garage slinging a heart capturing smile and kiss over his deceptively hidden shoulders then disappeared from view.

“What the hell just planned,” Cloud questioned the world at large.


End file.
